Voice-activated Artificial Intelligence is on the Rise

With more and more smart speaker devices launched at affordable prices like the Google Home, Amazon Echo and recently the Apple HomePod, voice-activated artificial intelligence is on the rise.

According to Response Tap “Artificial Intelligence (Al) Voice search is predicted to account for 50% of all search by 2020” and this will have a profound effect on how local companies will be found. It’s unlikely that the use of screens will be completely overtaken by voice search but according to the predicted numbers it will become important enough for companies to include it in their digital marketing strategy.

Marketers need to understand how these devices function. The Amazon Echo for example uses “skills” that are comparable to apps. All other search queries that cannot be answered by a skill will be found with the help of Bing. This means it is important to understand which skills exist, how they work and to keep track of newly launched skills (Search Engine Land).

Another difference to screen-based search is the use of keywords. If typed in these tend to be shorter and more precise. Users of smart speaker devices however tend to ask questions in their natural language as if they are having a conversation with the device (Search Engine Land). This leads to much longer and vague keyword phrases. Search keywords should therefore also include longer tail keyword phrases to increase the likelihood of being found.

With these developments in voice-activated artificial intelligence it is important to integrate it into your digital marketing strategy at the earliest possible stage so that you don’t miss the window of opportunity – the time frame in which you can be a leader in your sector and before it is too difficult to catch up.